Join now

Freelance in Madagascar?

Hey Folks,
I have experienced living in very isolated locations throughout the Pacific and Indonesia and may be looking to venture to Madagascar so this is simply a few questions regarding such.

I am a wildlife cameraman and photographer normally working on a freelance basis. I have a number of International clients that I service with regards to feeding them a flow of wildlife imagery and stock footage etc. I am particularly interested in basing myself in Madagascar for an extended period of years in order to document and record the massive diversity of wildlife there.

I would like to think I could develop relationships to provide media to the numerous wildlife and NGO outlets currently within Madagascar also. Initially though from a financial income point of view I would be invoicing clients from outside of Madagascar for stock imagery shot within Madagascar so what taxation, if any, would be levied against that income?

I'd like to get an idea of how one would go about legally basing ones self in Madagascar. I don't necessarily want to work for anyone else so as to secure a visa, I tried this on one occasion previously and it backfired with the 'sponsor' simply demanding that I work for their interest alone which was outside of the agreement we had.

So what are the needs in such a situation in Madagascar? Would I have to set myself up as a business for the fiscal responsibilities etc? This was the only way I could go about living in Bali where I lived for 6yrs so I understand if this is the only option. If that is the only option what kind of financial costs are involved for that?

If I decided to live just by doing the tourist visa run, which is a bit of a pain in the butt, would that also be legally acceptable? Does it make financial sense to exist that way, visa wise?

I am also married and would look to bring my wife and young son out to join me once I had set myself up within Madagascar. I take it if I did actually set myself up as a freelance corporate entity within the country their visas would be issued by the company?

I do speak French to a very good degree so have no issue with the language etc.

I'm sure there will be other questions but this would be enough to start discussions.

Cheers,
Mark

Madagascar Forum

Our Global Partners